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Tag Archives: august riots

And I truly mean it. Thank you, all of you who have taken the time to read and comment on my Freshly Pressed post. Both those who agree and those who disagree with me, and especially the latter for commenting with the respect each human is due another. Because of the subject matter, I was worried that a feature would mean many negative or even downright abusive comments, or that the whole comments section would descend into a gay-Christian bashing war. I’m glad to say that the WordPress community has proven me wrong on both accounts.

There are so many comments that my Gmail and WordPress apps have both crashed multiple times with the notifications. 😉 I watched my daily views shoot up from a max of 16 to a whopping 1,583 and counting. Numerous people have liked my post, or shown their support, or at the very least wished me luck in my spiritual journey and life. Many have resolved to pray for me, and regardless of our disagreements I thank you too, because this is only an extension of love. I never imagined my post or thoughts could attract attention like this, and I’m touched from all the people telling me that I’d made a difference to them with my maturity and refreshing ideas. I’m glad I could make that difference with this little expression of thought.

I am a woman, I am sixteen, and I am a Christian. I might be critical of the flawed idea that is religion, but my faith in Jesus Christ is a conviction for which I do not need to fall back on religion. I have certain ideas about Christianity, and whether or not I or you believe homosexuality is a sin is irrelevant to gays and Christians living together peacefully. My post was made to say that re-conciliation is possible, not to push my views down your throat. I have my own personal relationship with God, He understands me and I try my best to understand Him. Some people say my understanding is wrong, but that understanding is still my own and is no greater or lesser than another’s understanding of God.

A big hug to all my new followers, likers and commenters, thank you for giving time out of your day for me. 😀 I’m sorry I haven’t answered everyone’s comments yet, with the influx of comments if you have any personal queries you want quickly and directly answered it would be best to send me an email. Thank you all and God Bless!

Immediately, you know what this blog post is about. Not because of the media uproar last year, but rather because of the insidious reporting methods the media is using to stir up feelings and emotions again this year. For, quite aside from the Olympic reporting which comprises 90% of the July/August news (at least in the UK), many national papers have written brief, nearly identical articles about the London riots of yesteryear.

Stripped down, to the basics, last Summer’s riots were about the youth. More importantly, the lack of correlation between the youth and other ages. “Back in the day”, our parents said, “we had to work for things.” They earned that first wage, bike, house, car. Today, we expect things. We expect that, after going to school for x years we’ll get a house, a car, and a job. A good job, not manual labour, because that’s for the immigrants (who are invading our country! WAAAHH!). God forbid you ever have to wait tables, that you’re ever in the position of listening to a senile old man enunciate his order in perfect monotony while you resist the urge to later spit in his food. Only failures end up there. And we expect to succeed, because we’ve been told as much. Because when a teacher asks a class of primary school children if they want to be a Prime Minister, and the sixteen pairs of hands fly up, you won’t hear: “Sorry kids. You didn’t go to Eton. You’re f*cked.” And so when the new, expectant generation first glimpses the great void that is to be the rest of their lives, fighting, rushing and competing to be successful because they’ve just realised that the world owes you nothing…we get riots. Because those kids want to delude themselves that they have that expected success, so they will smash and grab the things they are told are signs of success: the best shoes, a great TV, the newest iPhone. Or drugs, for a high that can make them feel on top of the world and successful. Or gangs, where they feel successful because of the group mentality, because they’ve pleased a leader or gained a reputation amongst their peers. Or just plain hedonism. Because success is whatever makes you feel good, right? Right?

It’s just a bit sad. We can’t understand the last generation, we see the success, but we expect where they have earned. Somewhere between the generations something went wrong. Maybe when the last was getting up-to-speed with new technology, wars, multiculturalism, whatever, they slipped up and forgot to help the next. Last summer’s riots? Just the first crack, the first rut, to show this problem Britain is so ready to hide. Because we Brits know how stubborn we are. And I suppose other countries view us as that tea-sipping nutter. Well, occasionally, we spill that tea. And when we’re trying to clean up, we make a bigger mess, and our nervous, characteristically sarcastic joke falls flat.

the mysterious dl aiden

The important bit you need to know is that I'm a writer (yes, another one), and of lesser importance is that I'm a thinker. I'm young, hopefully objective, and I'm here to express my thoughts and dreams on the back of anonymity.